Hong Kong men face higher Covid-19 risk, less alert to symptoms than women, researchers say
- CUHK study conducted earlier this year during city’s first and second Covid-19 waves also found incidence and mortality rates among lowest in world
- Team members hope report on first two waves can inform mitigation measures for coming winter surge
Hong Kong men face a higher infection rate and are less alert to Covid-19 symptoms than women, according to university research.
Male patients were also more likely to be diagnosed later because of lower awareness, said one of the researchers, Dr Martin Wong Chi-sang, a professor at the school of public health at Chinese University (CUHK).
The results were based on a study of all 1,038 local cases of Covid-19 detected between January 23 and April 25. The report concluded that the Covid-19 risk was higher for men, at an overall rate of 159.2 per 1 million among the population, compared to 115.6 for women. It did not state the cause behind the higher statistics for men.
But Wong said: “We strongly advise anyone with symptoms of respiratory infections to visit the doctor and get tested for Covid-19.”
According to the Centre for Health Protection, the most common symptoms of Covid-19 include fever, malaise, dry cough and shortness of breath.
The study, published in BMJ Global Health this week, also concluded that the incidence and mortality rates of Covid-19 in Hong Kong during the studied period was 135.5 and 0.5 respectively per 1 million in the population – among the lowest in the world.
The rates were 6,090 and 350 in the United States, 4,320 and 610 in Britain, 6,990 and 4 in Singapore, and 230 and five in South Korea respectively.